A MAJOR agricultural breakthrough could be on the cards after scientists genetically modified a crop to grow with less water.

By injecting extra copies of a key gene into a group of tobacco plants, researchers in a joint US/UK project, were able to cut the crops water use by 25%.

This is the first time a plant has been genetically modified to grow with less moisture and it has raised hopes that the process can be applied to a wide variety of food crops such as rice, soya beans and other crops.

It is reckoned that this could go some way to solving the problem of how to feed a growing world population while preserving dwindling water reserves in some areas, since agriculture uses around 90% of global freshwater supplies.

Professor Stephen Long, of the University of Illinois, and the University of Lancaster, said: "This is a major breakthrough. This manipulation should be effective across all crops. Crop yields have steadily improved over the past 60 years, but the amount of water required to produce one tonne of grain remains unchanged.

"In plant growth, the stomata open to allow carbon dioxide to enter and fuel photosynthesis using sunlight – it's a process that releases water into the air."

In their experiments, researchers increased levels of a protein known as PsbS, which determines how much light is used in photosynthesis. By increasing its levels, the plant's stomata is tricked into thinking there is not enough light for photosynthesis and so it doesn't open up to let the carbon dioxide in, or the water out, thus maintaining the crop on less water.

* The research was first published in the scientific journal, Nature Communications.